3of3This Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 photo shows an arrangement of pills of the opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen in New York. Abuse of painkillers, heroin, fentanyl and other opioids across the country has resulted in tens of thousands of children being taken from their homes and placed in the foster care system. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)Photo: Patrick Sison, STF

Representative responds

Regarding "D.C. attorney says United gave her first-class seat to Jackson Lee" (Page A3, Sunday), on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee boarded a Washington, D.C.-bound United Airlines flight departing from IAH Airport in Houston. The congresswoman was returning to the nation's capital to battle for Hurricane Harvey recovery funds, to oppose the GOP tax cut for billionaires and millionaires, and to fight for the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program. At the time, there was great excitement in our office as the congresswoman had just hosted her 23rd annual "Toys for Kids" event, where 13,126 children celebrated and received gifts.

In no way did the congresswoman ask for or receive anything exceptional or out of the ordinary. The congresswoman did not ask for any particular seat. To the contrary, the congresswoman merely sat in the seat that was assigned to her. The dispute that followed was between a passenger and United Airlines, and had nothing to do with the congresswoman. With this in mind, we direct people once again to the following statement offered by United Airlines:

"We were concerned by this issue and took immediate steps to fully understand what happened. After thoroughly examining our electronic records, we found that upon receiving a notification that Flight 788 was delayed due to weather, the customer (in question) canceled her flight from Houston to Washington, D.C. within the United mobile app. As part of the normal pre-boarding process, gate agents began clearing standby and upgrade customers, including the first customer on the waitlist for an upgrade. [However], we were able to provide this [other] customer a seat on the same flight in economy plus."

Rucks Russell, communications director, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

Opioid safety

Regarding "Doctors forced to rethink pain treatment" (Page A15, Sunday), doctors need to do more than rethink what they are doing. They need to start following well-vetted guidelines for prescribing opioids that have been available for almost 21 months.

On March 15, 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published "CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain." There is no excuse I can see for doctors not following these guidelines, yet many obviously are not. Why not?

There are probably three factors at work. First, there is little accountability for patient harm caused by erroneous prescribing of opioids.

Second, proper pain management of patients requires much individual attention from the physician who already is overloaded with patients.

Third, the way physicians acquire new knowledge - say, to overcome the mistaken notion that opioids are not addictive - fails to ensure that physicians are current in their knowledge.

This last problem falls squarely in the lap of the Texas Medical Board. It requires only 48 hours of non-specific continuing medical education each biennium and verifies completion of that learning in only 1 percent of doctors each year.

Would you fly on Opioid Express Airlines if the pilot had a parachute so he did not go down with the plane, and he was too busy to spend time on essential details, and there was only a 1 percent chance he had his flying skills evaluated in the past year?